Demonstrates Intel® XMM 7160 multimode 4G LTE solution, now in final interoperability testing (IOT) with Tier 1 service providers across North America, Europe and Asia.

COMPUTEX, Taipei, Taiwan, June 5, 2013 – At an industry event in Taipei today, Hermann Eul, general manager of Intel’s Mobile and Communications Group, unveiled new details about the company’s forthcoming Intel® Atom™ processor-based SoC for tablets (“Bay Trail-T”) due in market for holiday this year.

Based on the new Silvermont microarchitecture, the next generation 22nm Intel technology for tablets and ultra-mobile devices will enable sleek designs with 8 or more hours of battery life2 and weeks of standby, as well as support Android* and Windows 8.1*.

Eul also spoke to recent momentum and announcements around the smartphone business and demonstrated the Intel® XMM 7160 multimode 4G LTE solution, now in final interoperability testing (IOT) with Tier 1 service providers across North America, Europe and Asia.

“The mobile category is undergoing a tremendous amount of innovation and constant change,” said Eul. “As we look at growing it, we continue to invest in and accelerate our efforts across all aspects of mobility with a focus on smartphones, tablets and wireless communications. Intel’s unique assets will enable more compelling and differentiated products and experiences, while at the same time helping to shape and lead markets in the future.”

Next-Generation 22nm Intel® Atom™ Processor-based SoC for Tablets and 2-in-1s
Building on the progress of the Intel® Atom™ processor Z2760, the new products will deliver efficient, quad core processing that doubles the performance over the previous generation, according to Eul.

The next-generation Intel Atom processor-based SoC for tablets (“Bay Trail”) provides the best balance of performance, features and battery life, he added. Taking full advantage of the broad spectrum of capabilities enabled by Intel’s design, microarchitecture, 22nm tri-gate transistor technology, and leading-edge manufacturing, Intel can quickly scale up and down in performance and power efficiency to address various market and product needs. With the new 22nm Silvermont architecture, Intel delivers industry-leading performance with fewer cores, allowing Intel platforms to bring to life incremental features and capabilities.

Eul discussed Intel’s focus on enabling a richer media and content experience by improving graphics performance. He then highlighted the tablet platform’s new Gen 7 graphics that will offer more than three times the graphics capabilities1, with support for DX11 for expanded PC application and game support.

The new Intel Atom processor-based platform comes equipped with hardware-based security with McAfee Live Safe. This digital life protection suite keeps online identity private, protects from phishing attacks and keeps data secure while protecting the devices.

Intel’s next-generation Atom processor for tablets will provide the benefits of both performance and productivity. Any task performed on a tablet or 2-in-1 device, from light photo editing to office productivity, becomes much faster and more interactive. People will see increased capability and richer content and will be able to play popular 3-D games on these sleek, battery-efficient devices than previously possible.

Bay Trail also represents the first time Intel is offering its customers a mobile platform solution that is flexible with regard to operating system and the company will provide the same great Intel tablet performance and high-resolution graphics at cost savings to consumers.

Enabling Mobile Devices with Intel Inside®
Intel platform and enabling programs have been the foundation of OEM and ODM innovation for decades. Eul said the company is currently focused on work with leading ODMs and OEMs to speed time-to-market of leading-edge mobile devices based on Intel technology.

Intel’s platform and ecosystem enabling efforts will be focused initially on Intel Atom processor-based tablets running Android* and Windows*. The company is providing pre-qualified solutions with simplified building blocks to scale designs quickly for mature and emerging markets.

With a billion users, it’d be an understatement to say Facebook has done a good job conquering the desktop world. Mobile, however, is the social network’s next frontier: although it has a significant presence on every major smartphone and tablet platform, the company has a reputation for bringing its key features to the PC environment long before they arrive on mobile — if at all.

But the April 4th reveal of Facebook Home, a solidly built Android launcher, reflects a change in attitude for Mark Zuckerberg and Co. Instead of simply maintaining a smartphone presence, Facebook is ready to go to battle and is putting mobile on the top of its list of priorities. It’s even adding a proper piece of hardware to its arsenal in the form of the HTC First, a 4.3-inch device on AT&T with LTE, reasonable mid-range specs and a gorgeous display. Is it worth $99 with a two-year commitment to purchase a handset dedicated to the social cause? Should you just wait until Home is available as a free download in the Google Play Store? Or is it best to ignore it altogether? Continue reading to find out.

As previously reported, Intel has been pursuing an acquisition of Infineon Technologies AG’s wireless unit. Infineon AG, spun-off in 1999 from Siemens AG, has seen lots of recent business making broadband signal processing chips for numerous Android smartphones and for the iPhone.

The deal is now official. Intel plans to close the deal by calendar Q1 2011. It will purchase Infineon’s wireless unit, WLS, for $1.4B USD in cash (a vastly smaller sum than its recent $7.68B USD acquisition of the world’s top antivirus software maker, McAfee).

The deal does not include much of Infineon’s R&D or fabrication business. It also does not cover the company’s ARM CPU offerings, which it’s hoping will soon gain traction in Android smartphones.

The move gives Intel a mobile wireless communications platform, which it can potentially employ with Atom platform x86 processors as part of a system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution for smartphones. That SoC package could also employ hardware-security using intellectual property from McAfee.

Currently there are no smartphones on sale with x86 processors (current smartphones use the alternative ARM architecture). Intel hopes to soon change that, and the assets from Infineon help prepare it for its upcoming battle in the smartphone sector.

Intel promises to play fair, though and to continue to support ARM customers like Apple. The company’s press release states, “WLS will operate as a standalone business. Intel is committed to serving WLS’ existing customers, including support for ARM-based platform.”

The acquisition could also help Intel add wireless 3G or 4G connections to its netbook chipsets. Infineon and Intel’s press release indicates that they are currently gunning for WiMAX as the 4G (fourth generation wireless) technology of choice. Sprint, the first carrier in the U.S. to deploy a widespread 4G network uses WiMAX, but the nation’s top network Verizon is betting on LTE for its 4G effort. Infineon has also looked into LTE technology in the past.